Mack Report: - Word Press... and the Future of Second Base

The Mack Report – 10-23-10



We are beginning our conversion from Blogger to Word Press this week so you will see some changes between and now and next weekend. Just hang in there and it should all be done by the end of October.
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We’ve talked in length this year about second base and all the future options. For awhile, everyone who had a glove tried out for that position. I think I actually saw Oprah taking grounders one day.

I don’t know why, but the Mets just can’t seem to figure this position out, especially since Fonzie went duck hunting. What’s so hard about catching a ground ball and tossing it underhand to the first baseman standing next to you.

Second base was where Jimmy Armet played. Jimmy was a 6-3 dork I grew up with that could’t catch a cold on an Alaska night, but he showed up every day we chose up a game at P.S. 62, in Richmond Hill, Queens. We would have put him in right field, but that was where Norman Shoemaker played, who was definitely the last rung on the ladder called our team.



There were no lefties back then, so nobody hit anything over there anyway. You were considered a complete woosie in my neighborhood unless you pulled everything and choking up on a bat and half-swinging to the opposite field were tantamount to wearing a dress to school.



Even the first real Mets second baseman wasn’t all that. I remember the press tried to drum up a rivalry between two rookie second basemen in the National League. They wanted everybody to answer the question… who is the biggest star… Pete Rose or Ron Hunt.



I never expected much from this position Mets wise. Ya know, bat eight, hit around .250, don’t embarrass yourself in the field, and stay the hell to the back of the chow line in the clubhouse.



One hundred and twenty-six baseball players have played second base for the New York Mets. They, and the amount of games played (compliments of http://ultimatemets.com/positions.php?Position=2b ) are:

1. Wally Backman 680


2. Felix Millan 654


3. Doug Flynn 530


4. Edgardo Alfonzo 524


5. Ken Boswell 506


6. Ron Hunt 420


7. Jeff Kent 390


8. Luis Castillo 340


9. Gregg Jefferies 328


10. Tim Teufel 325


11. Carlos Baerga 276


12. Roberto Alomar 219


13. Brian Giles 187


14. Chuck Hiller 139


15. Wayne Garrett 139




Michael G. Baron

 16. José Valentin 139


17. Kelvin Chapman 127


18. Keith Miller 126


19. Joe McEwing 123


20. Al Weis 121


21. Bob Bailor 119


22. Rod Kanehl 108


23. Jerry Buchek 107


24. Kaz Matsui 105


25. Damion Easley 103


26. Joel Youngblood 99


27. Bobby Klaus 97


28. José Vizcaino 94


29. Luis Lopez 86


30. Charlie Neal 85


31. Tom Herr 83


32. Miguel Cairo 82


33. Phil Linz 82


34. Ted Martinez 80


35. Willie Randolph 79


36. Danny Garcia 61


37. Alex Cora 61


38. Tim Foli 58


39. Desi Relaford 54


40. Marco Scutaro 51


41. Ruben Tejada 50


42. Bobby Valentine 45


43. Chris Woodward 44


44. José Reyes 43


45. Chico Walker 40


46. Bob Johnson 39


47. Jason Hardtke 39


48. Bill Pecota 38


49. Ty Wigginton 37


50. Ruben Gotay 37


51. Jeff McKnight 33


52. Jeff Keppinger 32


53. Manny Alexander 31


54. Ron Gardenhire 30


55. Argenis Reyes 30


56. Bill Almon 28


57. Tom Veryzer 26


58. Lenny Randle 25


59. Mike Phillips 24


60. Anderson Hernandez 24


61. Kurt Abbott 23


62. Leo Foster 23


63. Tim Bogar 22


64. Doug Saunders 22


65. Marlon Anderson 21


66. Larry Burright 18


67. Ricky Gutierrez 18


68. Junior Noboa 16


69. Felix Mantilla 14


70. Jay Bell 14


71. Lute Barnes 14


72. Joaquin Arias 13


73. Tucker Ashford 13


74. Fernando Vina 13


75. Alex Treviño 13


76. Bob Heise 13


77. Chris Donnels 12


78. Rey Sanchez 12


79. Bobby Pfeil 11




Michael G. Baron

 80. Fernando Tatis 10


81. Sammy Drake 10


82. Luis Hernandez 10


83. Shawn Gilbert 8


84. Kevin Collins 8


85. Melvin Mora 8


86. Hubie Brooks 7


87. Sergio Ferrer 7


88. Ramon Martinez 7


89. Ed Bressoud 7


90. Jorge Velandia 7


91. Lenny Harris 6


92. Bill Spiers 6


93. Luis Rivera 5


94. Ralph Milliard 5


95. Larry Bowa 4


96. José Moreno 4


97. Mario Ramirez 4


98. Justin Turner 3


99. Amado Samuel 3


100. Bart Shirley 3


101. Jeff Gardner 3


102. Mike Howard 3


103. Ted Schreiber 3


104. Chico Fernandez 3


105. Rich Puig 3


106. John Valentin 3


107. Sandy Alomar 2


108. Jack Heidemann 2


109. Richie Ashburn 2


110. Elio Chacon 2


111. Alvaro Espinoza 2


112. David Lamb 2


113. Billy Cowan 2


114. Ray Knight 2


115. Luis Alvarado 1


116. Steve Springer 1


117. Mario Diaz 1


118. Rafael Santana 1


119. Wilson Valdez 1


120. Charley Smith 1


121. Todd Haney 1


122. Al Pedrique 1


123. Roger Cedeño 1


124. Matt Franco 1


125. David Newhan 1


126. José Offerman 1



So, answer me this. How many of these dudes are going to be inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame?  Kent? Tuff? Al Pedrique?



So, where are we now:



Mets: Technically, Luis Castillo is still the starting second baseman for the New York Mets. And Razor Shines is still a coach, right? The Mets will keep Castillo on the 25-man right up to the last day of spring training, in hopes of someone calling them up for some kind of trade involving the Mets eating most of his salary. My guess is he’s a goner before Oliver “I Ain’t Shuffling to Buffalo” Perez, who is young enough to actually come back and haunt the Mets in some way.





mrzeising

 My money still remains on Daniel Murphy for opening day, with Ruben Tejada the backup at both second and short (note: that’s if the Mets break bread with Jose before the end of this month, but we’ll talk about that tomorrow…). I wouldn’t normally consider a backup role good for a young kid like Tejada, but it won’t last for long. He’s the projected replacement for Reyes some day, or, if Murphy works out at second, will be packaged in a future deal. Either way, they aren’t going to send him back down and screw with his head like the Mets have with so many kids before him. Remember, the Who song doesn’t apply here.



Buffalo: Again technically, there are five… I repeat, five second baseman on the Bisons roster: Murphy, Josh Satin, Russ Adams, Justin Turner, and Alex Cintron. Even money is that Adams and Citron are history. As predicted above, Murph will be in Queens, which leaves the Bisons Satin and Turner. Satin will play some at first base and may even turn a few double plays at shortstop, while Turner still waits for that phone call from Queens that should have come the last day of the 2010 season when he batted 1.000.



Michael G, Baron

 Binghamton: This was going to be one hell of a battle. Jordany Valdespin vs. Reese Havens. But, there is a good chance that Havens won’t make opening day, or, as of the last official statement, he may be down for the entire 2011 season. Mums the word here. Not even a Facebook account. How the hell do you not have a Facebook account? Unbelievable. It was going to be very interesting if everyone was healthy, especially if the Mets block “Spin” from the Rule V and place him on the 40-man. Technically, he’s ready for AAA and Satin could play 1B/DH there… but this is all dreaming now. A utility option here would be Hector Pellot.



St. Lucie: On paper, this is Alonzo Harris’ job to lose, and lose he could to Ryan Mollica. Harris has had a lot or early prospect talk, but he hasn’t produced the kind of numbers many scouts had him projected for. Mollica is a scrappy hustler that either could make things interesting here, or light a fire under Lonzo’s arse.

Savannah: J.B. Brown and Ray Van Gump will play here. Frankly, Ray Brown and J.B. Gump sounds better.



Kids in the wings: Justin Schaffer, Yucarybert De La cruz and Juan Carlos Gamboa will man the short squads, and it looks like Gamboa getting a winter assignment is a positive feather in his cap.



Prospects: No “AAAA”, but Satin, Havens, and Valdespin are all in the AA-AAA range.



Draft possibilities: The Mets won’t waste their first three picks on this position, but I do expect them to continue to look for a long range solution someday , through both the draft and the International free agent process.



In summation: The Mets are deep in undeveloped talent here. Havens has the highest ceiling and the most pop, even more than Satin. But… trust me… it’s Murphy’s job to lose.